Day 18 – Melissa Ley, community nurse specialist in the northern urgent care team

What do you do for the Trust?

I’m a community nurse specialist in the northern urgent care team. We cover the whole of northern Devon and help to prevent patients being admitted to hospital unnecessarily by providing urgent nursing care in patient’s homes and care homes from 4pm-8am (outside of community nursing team hours).

We provide wound care, bowel care and support patients at the end of life, and we carry out support visits, visiting patients at home after they have been discharged from hospital to see how they are getting on.

What makes you proud of your work?

Lots of things! I love my job and have been doing this for 10 years now. I know that people often don’t want to be admitted to hospital and would rather stay at home if they are able to, and I’m proud to help people with that. I’m really passionate about end of life care as well.

I’m also really proud to work in this team – we’re a small, close-knit and experienced team, with good morale.

What was your highlight of 2018?

I’ve started growing my own vegetables! About a year ago I moved to a house with a garden large enough to have a sort of allotment, and I’ve been experimenting growing different things.

Plus I was awarded a Roster Star this year, which is awarded to people who demonstrate excellence in electronic rostering at NDHT. This is about managing the team’s shifts and annual leave in an efficient and effective way.